


The Devil´s Greatest Trick

by therune



Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-12-27
Updated: 2009-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 07:41:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh my dear Trickster, you have been naive - you thought that after Countdown and your death it couldn´t get any worse? <br/>Neron has waited a long time before ,finally, the time for revenge is here - and it will be ugly and painful and worse than any nightmare you´ve ever had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Len pricked up. There! Their secret knock sign. “It´s probably just the squirt,“ he told himself, and dragged himself to the door. He opened it and thought he´d been struck by lightning; he did expect a Trickster, but certainly not the original one!

Nevertheless, _he_ was there: James Jesse, the first man who had ever chosen the mantle of the "Trickster". His old friend … who had died almost a year ago. He looked pathetic; the face was pale and sunken, he wore dark rags as clothing, and he couldn´t even look Len in the eyes.

“Len?“ a fragile voice asked, one hard to associate with the man this figure in front of him had once been.

“You look like you´ve been through hell and back,“ Len stated coolly. James emitted a choked sound that may have been a laugh or a sob. “You can say that again, Len.“

Len opened the door fully and nodded his head in the direction of the hallway. “Come in,“ he invited James.

“Thank you.“

 

 

He looked like what the cat had dragged in; wet and mercy-inspiring. Len thanked God that Axel wasn´t present at the time. He led James to the living room, where he collapsed on a chair like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He looked like a picture of misery. Len fetched a blanket and dumped it unceremoniously on James´ head. Mick came into the room, saw James, and full of shock and disbelief, turned to Len. “I thought he was dead!“ he whispered, worried. “What happened?“

“You guys know that I can hear you, right?“

“Coffee!“ Len snapped, “and go get the rest!“

 

Mick threw another worried glance full of care at James, and left. Shortly after that, Mark rushed into the room, Evan at his heels.

“JJ? Is that really you?“

“The one and only,“ James said, having wrapped the blanket around himself. He produced a small smile that was painful to look at.

“It´s good seeing you again, guys.“

 

“You look awful,“ Evan said nonchalantly.

“I love you, too, Evan,“ James replied. These words belonged to the Trickster, no surprise, but the voice would have been more suitable for a gravedigger. Mick returned with a steaming cup of coffee that would almost certainly burn James’ lips, tongue and pharynx. Thankfully James accepted the cup and cradled it with both hands.

“What the devil happened to you?“ Mark asked.

“Exactly,“ James answered.

“What, _exactly_?“

“You´re right.“

“Quit playing games, James,“ Len admonished.

“But Marky already said it.“ He arose thunderously and yelled: “What THE DEVIL do you think happened to me?!“

 

That shot hit home. So many years had passed since their stay down there, so many years since their own deaths – it was all too easy to forget, to repress. Out of sight, out of mind, and very soon Neron was only a pale shred, a nightmare from which you´d awaken bathed in sweat, without really knowing what had disturbed you. And they were thankful for that.

But then, Neron had never been interested in them. But James – you couldn´t fool the devil (twice) without expecting repercussions. He had sworn to take revenge on James. And by the looks of it, he had gotten his late revenge.

“Oh, damn!“

“You can say that again, Len.“


	2. Chapter 2

“I last saw you when you were running away with Piper, after -“

He didn´t need to voice what had happened. They had killed a child.

 

“We ran away, we...were on the run together. After he more or less forced me to attend the funeral, we split up. Two single men on the run are harder to catch than a duo. Unfortunately we got caught in the parking lot by the Suicide Squad.“

“You can´t be serious: as potential murderers of your victim...you attended his funeral that was just crawling with superheroes. You´re crazy, both of you!“ Evan interrupted him.

“Yes, yes, I know. It was a rotten idea, but -- you know Piper. Saint Piper, patron of the homeless and rats. It was foolish, but also – it was the right thing to do. Kinda. Well, Deadshot thought it was hilarious to chain us together and then make stupid jokes about that. Well, he choked on his own laugh when I got us out of there. Then we fell into the Gotham Harbor, got beaten up, tied up, wired, Poison Ivy, a mummy, a wedding – we even found out what Salvation was. I guess that was overkill. Deadshot found us. He was pissed that we got away from him – twice. We didn´t have any weapons, but we fought back, defended ourselves...“

The Rogues hung onto every word.

“And then he shot me.“

Deadly silence grasped the group.

 

“That son of a bitch! He was there on that shitty planet; if only I had known, I would have torn him into pieces.“ And they all knew it wasn´t an empy threat.

“Thanks for your sympathies, Mark, I appreciate that.“

And then Mick asked the question that burned on their lips. “And after that?“

“Then...I went to Hell. There was no tunnel of light, no dead relatives, no celestial tribunal, nothing! Only fire and this voice. I fell; for so long and so far, and there was always this laugh.“

James wasn´t really talking to them anymore; he confessed, he needed to get it off his chest. It just poured out of him, like a neverending flow of pain.

“He mocked me, he laughed and bragged. He knew that I was going to hell. He KNEW it! Regardless of what I might have done, what I did – all paths lead to Hell! Eternal inferno! I changed my life to avoid going to Hell. No more drinking, no more cursing, no more Trickster, no more Rogue – Finito. I just didn’t want to end up there again.“

 

“But, you _did_ come back to us. After that brainwashing was gone-“

“And you believed this crap? There never _was_ a brainwash; all psychological warfare from dear old Ros. Think about it – Roscoe never had the power to manipulate every plane of our minds simultaneously over years, suppressing who we really were – that was all us! We did that! We wanted to change – we changed. We wanted to change again – we changed again. I used that as a cheap excuse and you too willingly swallowed it. You just wanted to believe that we’d been torn apart, separated by force, and that now nothing would stand in your way, we would be together like in the old days..“

“When you were on your way to sainthood, why _did_ you want to come back?“

“Mick, with all my love, you were there at the Project! I wanted to take you in. I was an FBI agent, it was an undercover mission!“

“WHAT?!“ Evan roared, “you filthy little-“

“Enough!“ Len commanded.

 

“You were on the side of the angels years before the Rogue War, directly after that monk stuff, so why then? Why not years ago? Don´t tell me it was sudden Neron-induced fear,“ Mark inquired.

“Simply: it was Piper.“

“Oh, now I get it-“

“Shut up, Evan, you have no right to talk about him,“ his voice got cold as ice and sharp as a blade, “if you dare to even talk about him, I will make you regret it.“

“Then what was it?“ Mick distracted them. The tension dissolved.

“He had just broken out of Iron Heights. He needed help. And he came to me. Jesus Christ, he sneaked into the FBI, the lion´s den, to ask for my help. And you know what? As soon as I saw him there, I knew that I´d help him. I knew that, no matter which one of you came and asked for my help, I´d do it. Without doubts, without hesitation and against better knowledge. And I also knew that you´d be the the nails in my coffin. You were my Achilles’ heel! You would have been my undoing. To keep this from ever happening, you had to go into custody. You had to be safe. And

you´d had to hate me so you would never even think about asking me for help. I would have made sure that you’d be alright, but I never would have seen you again. No matter what I did in the past, how long I’d worked for the FBI, for the good guys, no matter what I should have done – my loyalty still lies with you. I can´t change that, ever. You guys are my family.“

“Then you still betrayed us for your egoistic bullshit? You wanted to betray us and bring us in!“

“Don´t go all high and mighty on me, it wouldn´t be the first time any of us blew the whistle!“

“Enough!“

 

“James, just how did you get here? You... you were dead ...and in Hell...“

“That didn´t stop you, did it?“

“We were sent to earth as soulless killing machines and were then set free by the Flash ... that didn´t happen with you, huh?“

 

“He let me go.“


	3. Chapter 3

James averted his gaze. “He just let me go.“

“What? Why?“

“Eternal revenge – you tricked him! You made an ass out of him – and he just let you go?“

“Yes, but it´s not like he did me a favor with that. I fought with the devil, that leaves scars. Psychological, physical, and ...in the soul. The battle against Neron burned itself into me and is now lurking as a shadow. And I´m never going to be able to get rid of that. That´s the thing about demons – they can´t be killed, because they´re not really alive. They corrupt everything they touch. And even if you defeat them, a part of them stays with you. Neron has burned himself deep into me – I can´t get rid of that stigma. Demons always survive. Neron always survives, and nothing can ever change that. I am damned, literally. Damned! This shadow will make sure I´ll never find peace, that I can never change anything, that I´m going to Hell no matter what I do, who I become. I went to hell despite the years I’d changed. I took bullets for Piper, I died for him – and still went to Hell! No matter what I had done – I am cursed! Doomed! Damned and cursed! I can´t escape him! Nothing can erase this shadow, nothing! No deed, no sacrifice, no prayer – I am lost!

That is why he let me go. He told me to go out there, look at the world with all its wonders and its atrocities. I should lead a good life and despair every second that all is futile. I´m gonna die! And I´m gonna go to Hell! That made me furious, I think I lost it for a while. But … I realized that I can´t do anything. All I did, all I didn´t do -- I wasted years of my life doing what I hated. Years I despised myself. I hated what I had become, hated what I did -- what I did to you guys. I´m so sorry. After the second encounter, with Neron after I met Billy – I knew I couldn´t go on walking the line – I had to choose one side. I chose the one I thought wouldn´t condemn me to damnation. All is lost, I will never be free.“

 

He slumped into the chair, his voice hoarse after the monologue. He looked more than ever like a shell of the man he used to be. He used to be vibrant, funny, smiling and now all that was left was the burnt out, pale husk that had already accepted defeat and given up.

There was silence.

 

The Rogues had to cope with what James told them. They all had the certain feeling that he didn´t tell them everything, that there was even more behind this horrible story. But they were reminded of their stay in Hell, of the pain, fire and the voices. They didn´t want to talk about it. He didn´t want to talk about it. Fine.

 

“What are you gonna do now?“ Mark asked timidly.

James smiled at him and it looked like it caused him physical pain.

“If I´m going to hell anyway... I want to spend what time I have doing what I do best. Being a Rogue and annoying the guy wearing red pyjamas.“

“Okay,“ Len said curtly and nodded.

James nodded.

Mick and Mark came over to James.

No more questions. They took him around the middle, hoisted him up and towed him to Mark´s room. It would probably be for the best if James got some rest. He looked as bad as he had to feel. Besides, Mark´s room was farthest away from the front door, and that minimized the chances of the two Tricksters crossing paths. They would have to deal with that soon enough.

 

Evan took Len aside.

“Do you think that´s wise? He´s a mess – he wanted to betray us and he´ll cause our demise!“

“That may be,“ Len replied, “but you know the rule: once a Rogue, always a Rogue. He belongs to us, until death and beyond.“

.


	4. Chapter 4

&lt;!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --&gt;

Deep inside the shadow, in the dark spot on James´ soul, Neron laughed.

_Little, unknowing Trickster – how naive you are! Did you think that was all? I took your life, your hope, your peace of soul – but I´ll only be satisfied when I have everything of you!_

_I may have been killed during the last war, but as you said – demons can´t die. I live in _you_, my adversary. You had to be it. That´s because you only heard my voice, it has been in your head all along. It cost me my last bit of power to get you out of hell, but it was worth it. I will be free. With every passing day my strength returns. I grow stronger. Eventually, I will take your body and raise hell on earth. And this will be your fault._


End file.
